Snapshot: So you have money and you want a Electric Superbike, the LS-218 is here!!

Whether we like it or not, the future of mobility lay in hands of electric propulsion. Though we are particularly sure that the technology that will actually change the mobility forever is "Fuel Cell Technology" (which we have discussed predominantly at our sister concern Autoportal). However, there is no denying the fact that the Battery Charge based technology for providing drive to vehicles is also improving all the time.

It is a simple understanding of human psyche that whenever, there are wheels with some sort of power driving them are talked about, the thing which comes next is "How Fast does this thing go mate?". The blokes at Lightning Motorcycles are much are like us (albeit, they have a company and they talent to make motorcycles too), they also wanted to answer this simple yet important "how fast?" question. What they ended up with at the end of the process was the World's Fastest Electric Motorcycle. They have named their creation LS-218, and it indeed is an Electric Super(whoosh)bike!

On May 17th, 2014, Lightning Motorcycle revealed the LS-218 electric Superbike at the Quail Motorsport Gathering held in Carmel, California. The Lighting Motorcycle website states that, “Since 2006 the Lightning team has been dedicated to developing electric motorcycles that meet and exceed the performance of the best ICE (Induction Combustion Engine) alternatives”, said Richard Hatfield, CEO of Lightning Motorcycle.

“To have broad acceptance from the motorcyclist community, we need to provide design, performance and value that competes head to head with the best gasoline motorcycles on the market. Lightning’s R&D team has developed electric vehicle technology through years of competition at racing events around the world. We believe that the LS-218 offers consumers the best of design, performance and value in today’s market.”

The Lightning LS-218 presents the first opportunity that consumers can purchase a production motorcycle capable of setting land speed records and winning road racing competitions that is as easy to ride as a 250cc commuter bike. Lightning’s LS-218 IPM liquid cooled 10,500 rpm electric motor can produce in excess of 200 hp and 168 ft/lbs of torque. Lightning’s proprietary Ultra High Power Density Drive system allows max power setting without any concerns of overheating. At highway speed, LS-218 can exceed 100 miles range per charge with the standard battery package. You can use standard power outlets to charge LS-218. At public fast charging stations, it will take less than 30 minutes to charge.

The Lightning LS-218 is a direct street legal version of the same bike that won AMA and FIM races and set land speed records. Customers can purchase a Lightning LS- 218 and have the same opportunity to win an FIM E-Power race or set a land speed record themselves while still using their LS-218 as daily commuter bike.

“Consumers no longer are required to pay more for less performance to support green technology”, said Richard Hatfield , “The Lightning LS-218′s can compete with the best ICE alternatives today. Lightning achieved the goal we set in 2009 to compete against and win against the best gasoline race bikes. In June 2013, at Pikes Peak, Lighting won first overall competing against 93 other motorcycle teams (electric and gasoline) by over 20 seconds.

Lightning Motorcycle has been involved in researching and manufacturing electric two wheeled transportations (E2W). Lightning builds the fastest production motorcycle in the world, won many road racing competitions and set several world speed records. Lightning’s solutions have been used in various applications, from fuel cell hybrid electric buses, hybrid cars, electric motorcycle, electric ATV, electric yard trucks for ferrying shipping containers, professional ocean racing yachts and many other areas. Our mission is to build 2 wheel electric transportation (E2W) that has superior efficiency, performance, and affordability than current gasoline alternatives.